4,500 Shares in Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) Acquired by Banco Santander S.A.

Banco Santander S.A. bought a new position in shares of Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ:ITRI) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 4,500 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock, valued at approximately $445,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Itron by 85.6% during the 2nd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 271 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Itron by 61.5% during the first quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 344 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of Itron in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of Itron by 315.6% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 881 shares of the scientific and technical instruments company’s stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 669 shares during the period. Finally, C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. purchased a new position in Itron in the 4th quarter worth about $76,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.19% of the company’s stock.

Itron Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of ITRI traded down $0.43 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $101.18. 25,094 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 516,470. The company has a market cap of $4.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.20, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 3.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. Itron, Inc. has a 12-month low of $56.11 and a 12-month high of $113.07. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $100.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $97.32.

Itron (NASDAQ:ITRI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The scientific and technical instruments company reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.25. The firm had revenue of $609.07 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $599.25 million. Itron had a return on equity of 16.42% and a net margin of 7.98%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.65 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Itron, Inc. will post 4.55 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Itron

In other Itron news, SVP Donald L. Reeves III sold 4,210 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $101.00, for a total transaction of $425,210.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 16,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,643,169. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, SVP Donald L. Reeves III sold 4,210 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $101.00, for a total value of $425,210.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 16,269 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,643,169. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Joan S. Hooper sold 509 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.15, for a total value of $51,994.35. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 72,338 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,389,326.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,776 shares of company stock valued at $584,721. Insiders own 1.45% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Itron from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $125.00 price objective on shares of Itron in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Itron from $115.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com lowered Itron from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Guggenheim upgraded Itron from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $117.20.

About Itron

Itron, Inc, a technology, solutions, and service company, provides end-to-end solutions that help manage energy, water, and smart city operations worldwide. It operates in three segments: Device Solutions, Networked Solutions, and Outcomes. The Device Solutions segment offers hardware products that are used for measurement, control, or sensing, such as standard gas, electricity, water, and communicating meters, as well as heat and allocation products.